Breakaway was Spectacular
Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 50
7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 14, 2019
Ship: Norwegian Breakaway
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
This was our first Cruise and we loved it. The NCL Breakaway is beautiful with tasty food and great entertainment. Plenty of quiet spaces to retreat to and perfect itinerary. Planning a 2nd cruise with NCL next year.Embarkation
Left Marriott Biscayne Bay about 12:00. Drove to Jet Port and parked car. Shuttle to port. Bags to porter then into Terminal F. They were very organized and efficient. Was on ship by about 1:30. Ate at O’Sheehan’s then to our room about 3 pm. Bags there about 4:30 pm.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Overall food and drinks were very good. The specialty dining is excellent. My favorite was Cagney’s. The Manhattan Room, (complimentary dining) was also excellent with a beautiful supper club atmosphere and live jazz band. The buffet was good with plenty of variety. You can eat breakfast at a number of places like Moderno, O’Sheehan’s, Savor, Margaritaville and the Garden Cafe buffet. You can have breakfast on the Waterfront at Moderno. Best coffee is at Savor. Or for a $4.95 you can get specialty coffee at the Atrium cafe. Favorite bars: Shaker’s Martini Bar on deck 8 inside and on Waterfront, Mixx Bar on deck 6, Atrium bar, Syd Norman’s Pour House Bar on Deck 8 Waterfront.
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Great entertainment. My pics are Rock of Ages, Howl at the Moon, Syd Norman’s Pour House band, the piano player at Shaker’s Martini Bar. We went to Velvet. Cool venue but not crazy about the show. The food there was pretty good.
Service and Staff
Overall very good. Some staff was excellent. They got tips! Our room steward was Juana. She was excellent. A server named Mae at Manhattan room was our favorite. We went there 3 times. Our favorite complimentary dining venue.
Ship Quality
Where do I start. Best feature is the Waterfront on deck 8. It’s an outdoor promenade with bars, comfy sitting areas and outdoor specialty dining like Moderno, Ocean Blue, and Cagney’s. Syd Norman’s Pour House also has a bar on the Waterfront. We watched sail away from port of Miami sitting in a comfy bed type lounger at the Shaker’s martini bar. Everyone was on the lido deck so it was nice and romantic. We spent a lot of time here! Layout of the ship is easy after a day or 2. I watched video tours so I knew what I was doing once on board. Super clean ship. Our cabin was a spa mini suite on 14. Loved it and loved the access to the thermal suite. The spa cabins also have awesome showers with body jets. Mini suites have larger bathrooms which suited us. The only area that was dirty at times was the buffet.
Cabin / Stateroom
We had spa mini suite on deck 14 near forward elevators. Loved it and had access to the thermal suite in the Mandara Spa on deck 15. The shower was a spa rain shower with body jets. It was so awesome. I miss it when I get in my shower at home. I’d absolutely book this suite again. Balcony is tiny but it was fine for looking out and standing on. We were port side which is great for the itinerary of Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Our balcony faced every port! We were under the lido deck but really didn’t have noise. A few chairs moving in the morning on occasion but we were up already.
Ship tip
Book specialty dining in advance as well as shows. It was less of a headache once on board. You can always change them. I wanted to make sure I didn’t dine too late on the specialty dining nights and wanted to make sure I got all 3 in. They do book up. My 2nd tip is avoid the pool area. Unless you love crowds of people. We didn’t go once. Plenty of other fun things to do and we got our fun in the sun at the ports. We also had a spa mini suite so we had access to the spa thermal suite that had a pool and hot tub. No kids allowed!😎
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Love this island and the wonderful people! Hired a driver through Victor Bodden Tours. Andrew Webster. Ask for him. $40 pp and he will show you the island and take you anywhere. Will watch your stuff while you snorkel. We went on a tour up to high point then he took us to the Mayak Chocolate Factory. The chocolate was insane. Lots of flavors like bee pollen and ginger lemon. Sounds weird but it was delicious. You can put together a sampler box of your favorites for $15 to $28. Bought Honduran coffee there too. Then off to west end to shop and eat. Lots of annoying ladies bugging you to braid your hair or massage you. Had ceviche and lobster for lunch. Cheap and delicious. After lunch to Half Moon Bay. You can snorkel right off the shore of this private property if you buy beer or rent chairs or fins. $20 for 2 loungers and 2 sets of fins. We brought full face masks which rock. Snorkeling was the best at this port than the others for us. Next time will get an excursion out further to see more. Lots of kids selling bracelets. I bought some. You see more poverty at this stop more than the others. Lots of Americans and Europeans building on this stunning mountainous island. We talked w a couple at lunch. They love it in Roatan. This will be good for the country and bring up the economy for all and promote local business.
It’s an island owned or rented from Belize by NCL. Food and bev package does NOT extend to the island. The pool is beautiful and huge. Plenty of comfortable loungers poolside and on the beach. Landshark restaurant is there serving $7 beer and $12 fru fru drinks. Lunch starts at $20. We left at 1:30 and ate at the buffet. Next time we will fill our huge Yetis w an adult bev before we leave ship😜Shopping is very limited and waaaay overpriced. There is a coconut bar that serves rum mixed with fresh coconut juice inside the coconut for $10. Delicious and somewhat healthy right? Also a shop that you can custom make flip flops with blingy embellishments and pick your colors for the sole and strap. Really cool looking. Talked to a lady that got a pair and she said very cushy and comfy. Don’t know the price.
Fun port with a huge pool with bars and loungers that are free to use for purchase of a drink. Lots of fun shopping here. Try escaping though! You go round and round trying to exit but somehow you end up where you started. This is by design. I overheard one lady ask a vendor how to get out. She was in a panic. He said “ Lady, slow down, stay a while. “. It’s like Hotel California, “you can check in any time you like but you can never leave”😬 Finally found our way out of port and walked a ways to get to the Maya Chan rep. It’s an all inclusive. They told us the seaweed situation was bad and gave us the option to cancel. We went ahead and the place is wonderful and food delicious, but the seaweed ruined the beach. It smells too. We did not get in the water. After that we made sure in Cozumel we went to the north or west beaches.
This port and Roatan were our 2 favorites. We got through the port maze then took a $10 taxi to Playa Azul which was recommended by a local. It’s a beach hotel w outdoor bar that lets you play and use the beach and loungers if you buy food or drink. Great place and snorkeling was awesome. Definitely would return. Great service too. They keep the drinks coming. There is also a fancy shopping district next to port with high end shopping if that’s your thing. Can’t wait to go back to Cozumel. We felt very safe there. Locals very friendly as were the taxis drivers.
Stayed at Marriott Biscayne Bay. Partied at south beach. It was wild but fun. The people watching is about the best thing ever!Super expensive! Saw our ship come to port from our 28 th floor room. About $181 per night there. Will stay somewhere cheaper next time but it was a really nice hotel. Friendly cab drivers. Fun street shopping on the beach. Found a crocheted dress (Uber sexy) and a crocheted duster. Both for $100. If you do one thing there, see the beautiful beach and walk or bike ride through historic south beach on Ocean Drive. It’s all there together and very walkable. Wear or bring your swimsuit. You can rent chairs and umbrellas. The beach is spectacular.
Disembarkation
It was a little laborious. You can pick your time to leave the ship by picking the tag color that corresponds to a departure time. We picked lime which departs at 9 am. We were in no hurry. For those in a hurry, it’s best to pick early or carry your stuff off. When we left our room at 8 am to get breakfast they were letting the folks with their own luggage get off the ship so the elevators were jammed up. We thought we’d take the stairs but they rope them off at deck 7 (disembarkation level). We needed to get to deck 6 for Savor and to close out our ship account. Finally caught an elevator. After breakfast we waited in the Atrium for our color to be called. They called orange and lime together for some reason. You wind your way all over deck 7 then to the gangway. It took longer getting off than on. Finally to the luggage area where you look for your color sign then find your luggage. They have porters if you need one. Then out to the curb to wait for our shuttle with many other people. We were to the curb by 10 am.